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| United States Patent |
5,341,999
|
|
Hochdanninger
, et al.
|
August 30, 1994
|
Fire brigade truck
Abstract
A fire brigade truck for technical operations comprises at least one supply
line, which is connected to an energy source and is adapted to be wound up
on a reel accommodated in the body of the truck and comprises a fitting
for coupling to a tool or other implement, a boom structure is provided on
the truck and comprises a pole and a boom that is carried by said pole and
disposed above the body of the truck and pivotally movable about a
vertical axis and at its free end is provided with a depending arm, which
carries a supply head adapted to be disposed on such a level that is can
conveniently be reached by a person standing on the ground, the supply
lines extend and are longitudinally movable from the associated reels to
the pole and along the pole, boom, and arm as far as to the supply head,
and the supply head comprises holders for detachably retaining the supply
lines adjacent to the fittings, preferably at tools coupled to said
fittings.
| Inventors:
|
Hochdanninger; Franz (Lauffen, AT);
Peherstorfer; Helmut (Hartkirchen, AT)
|
| Assignee:
|
Rosenbauer International Aktiengesellschaft (Leonding, AT)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
056177 |
| Filed:
|
May 3, 1993 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Current U.S. Class: |
242/397.1; 137/355.12 |
| Intern'l Class: |
B65H 075/42 |
| Field of Search: |
242/86.2,86,86.1,86.5 R,86.7,86.8
191/12.2 A
137/355.12,355.24,355.26,355.27
169/24,62
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
| 3291256 | Dec., 1966 | Eitel | 242/86.
|
| 3774630 | Nov., 1973 | Prange | 137/355.
|
| 3810487 | May., 1974 | Cable et al. | 137/355.
|
| 4540017 | Sep., 1985 | Prange | 137/355.
|
| 5211245 | May., 1993 | Relyea et al. | 169/24.
|
Primary Examiner: Jillions; John M.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Collard & Roe
Claims
We claim:
1. In a fire brigade truck for technical operations, comprising
a plurality of energy sources,
a truck body,
a plurality of energy supply lines connected to respective ones of said
energy sources and provided each with a fitting for detachably mounting an
implement, and
a plurality of reels, which are accommodated in said body and associated
with respective ones of said supply lines and each of which is operable to
wind up the associated supply line,
the improvement residing in that
said truck is provided with a boom structure comprising a pole, a boom,
which is mounted on said pole and extends above said body and is pivotally
movable about a vertical axis and has a free end, and an arm, which
depends from said free end of said boom and carries a supply head adapted
to be disposed on such a level that is can conveniently be reached by a
person standing on the ground,
each of said supply lines extends from the associated reel to said pole and
along said pole, boom, and arm to said supply head,
said supply head comprises a plurality of holders for detachably retaining
respective ones of said supply lines adjacent to said fittings, and
said boom structure is provided with means for guiding each of said supply
lines along said pole, boom, and arm so that each of said supply lines is
adapted to be extended from the associated holder to a desired operational
location.
2. The improvement set forth in claim 1, wherein at least one said fitting
is provided with an implement consisting of a tool.
3. The improvement set forth in claim 2, wherein at least one of said tools
is detachably retained in one of said holders.
4. The improvement set forth in claim 1, wherein at least one of said
fittings is detachably retained in one of said holders.
5. The improvement set forth in claim 1, wherein said pole is telescopic.
6. The improvement set forth in claim 5, wherein said boom is telescopic.
7. The improvement set forth in claim 1, wherein said boom is telescopic.
8. The improvement set forth in claim 1, wherein
each of said reels is provided with drive means, which are operable to wind
up the associated supply line on said reel, and
said supply head is provided with switches for initiating the operation of
each of said drive means.
9. The improvement set forth in claim 1, wherein said boom structure is
provided adjacent to the free end of said boom with lighting means for
illuminating a desired operational location.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fire brigade truck for technical operations,
comprising at least one supply line, which is connected to an energy
source and is adapted to be wound up on a reel accommodated in the body of
the truck and comprises a fitting for coupling to a tool or other
implement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the operations of fire brigades there is a large demand for tools and
other implements which are hydraulically, pneumatically or electrically
operated, for jet pipes and for other means which depend on a supply of
energy. For this reason a fire brigade truck for technical operations must
be provided not only with the conventional tools and other implements but
also with suitable energy sources and energy supply lines. Such energy
supply lines may consist of electric cables or hydraulic or pneumatic
lines and are wound up on reels, which are provided in the body of the
truck at readily accessible locations and from which each supply line can
be pulled in case of need. From the aspect of space utilization the reels
provided with the supply lines must be distributed around the truck and in
use some reels will be disposed on that side of the vehicle which is
remote from the operational location; this will depend on the position of
the truck relative to said location, and it will then be difficult to pull
the supply lines from the truck to the operational location; unnecessarily
long supply lines must be provided; there is an intricate tangel of lines
about the truck; and losses of time required for the coupling of the tools
and other implements to the supply lines when they have been extended to
the operational location cannot be avoided; and the firemen by whom the
supply lines are extended and the connected tools and other implements are
handled may interfere with each other.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
For this reason it is an object of the invention to eliminate said
disadvantages and to provide a fire brigade truck which is of the kind
described first hereinbefore and which ensures that an orderly arrangement
for supplying energy to the tools and other implements required for the
operations of the fire brigade can efficiently and conveniently be
established.
This object is accomplished in accordance with the invention in that a boom
structure is provided on the truck and comprises a pole and a boom that is
carried by said pole and disposed above the body of the truck and
pivotally movable about a vertical axis and at its free end is provided
with a depending arm, which carries a supply head adapted to be disposed
on such a level that is can conveniently be reached by a person standing
on the ground, the supply lines extend and are longitudinally movable from
the associated reels to the pole and along the pole, boom, and arm as far
as to the supply head, and the supply head comprises holders for
detachably retaining the supply lines adjacent to the fittings, preferably
at tools coupled to said fittings. Regardless of the locations of the
several reels in the body of the truck, all supply lines extend to the
supply head so that said supply head constitutes a central source of
energy. Because the boom is pivotally movable the supply head and said
central source of energy can be moved close to a desired operational
location so that it is sufficient to extend each supply line over a short
distance from the supply head to such operational location. Because the
supply lines with the associated fittings and optionally with the coupled
tools can simply be taken from the holders of the supply head and because
they are guided along the pole, boom, and arm they can be pulled from the
supply head, each of said supply lines can quickly be moved to a desired
operational location. Each supply line which is required to be used is
pulled from the supply head and even if a plurality of supply lines are
required they will automatically be laid from the truck to the operational
location substantially parallel to each other and in an orderly
arrangement. The tools are desirably coupled to the fittings of the supply
lines and retained in the holders so that the tools can be taken from the
supply head without delay and can be moved to the operational location
together with the supply line and tools will always be available which
correctly coupled to the associated supply lines and are ready for
immediate use. The orderly arrangement of the extended supply lines also
results in a wider range of the tools and valuable accessible stowage
space is provided in the body of the truck because the reels previously
accommodated in the truck can now be provided at any desired locations.
It would be possible to provide a simple boom, which has a sufficient
length and together with the associated supply head can be pivotally moved
around the truck. But if the roof of the truck is provided with upwardly
protruding structures or if the pole cannot be centrally mounted on the
truck, it will be desirable to provide a rotatable telescopic pole and/or
a telescopic boom. In that case the pole can be raised and lowered and the
boom can be extended and retracted to move the supply head to a desired
optimum position even if the structural arrangement on the truck is not
favorable. The rotatable pole is preferably provided with a lifting drive.
A drive for extending and retracting the boom will not be required because
it can easily be actuated by hand at the supply head. It will be
understood that the adjustability of the boom will increase its range and
the angle through which it can be pivotally moved that the adjustable boom
can more easily be accommodated at the truck and be moved to a desirable
inoperative position, in which the boom is not disturbing.
To simplify the winding up of the supply lines, when they have been
extended, the reels are provided with winding drives and the supply head
is provided with switches for initiating the operation of the winding
drives of the reels. In that case the supply lines can conveniently be
accommodated after use because it will be sufficient for the operator to
walk to the supply head and to actuate the switch so that the supply line
will then be wound up.
If the boom is provided with lighting means, it will be possible to provide
in addition to the central source of energy an optimum lighting for any
given operational location because in use the boom is directed to the
operational location so that the light projectors will also be directed to
the operational location.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIGS. 1 and 2 are, respectively, a side elevation with a top plan view
showing a fire brigade truck embodying the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
An illustrative embodiment of the invention will now be described with
reference to the schematic drawing.
A fire brigade truck 1 for technical operations comprises a boxlike body 2
for accommodating various tools and other implements. To permit a use of
hydraulic rescuing implements, pneumatic tools, electric implements, jet
pipes and other implements which require a supply of energy, suitable
energy sources 3 are provided in the truck body 2 and may consist, e.g.,
of hydraulic pumps, surge tanks, and storage batteries, and reels 4 for
winding up the required supply lines 5 are accommodated in the body 2. For
a coordination of the means for supplying energy and for providing at the
truck a central source of energy, the truck is provided with a boom
structure 6, which is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis and is
composed of a pole 7, which is rotatable about said axis, and a boom 8,
which is carried by the pole 7 and disposed above the box 2. The boom 8 is
provided at its free end with a depending arm 9 for carrying a supply head
10, which is adapted to be disposed on such a level that it can
conveniently be reached by a person standing on the ground. The supply
head 10 comprises holders 11 for detachably retaining respective supply
lines 5. The supply lines 5 extend from the respective reels 4 to the pole
7 and along the pole 7, the boom 8, and the arm 9 to the supply head 10
and are longitudinally movable in contact with rollers 12 or other guiding
means provided on the pole 7, the boom 8, and the arm 9. Each supply line
is provided with a fitting 13 for coupling a tool 14 or other implement
and said fittings 13 or the tools 14 coupled thereto are detachably
retained or fitted in the holders 11 of the supply head 10.
By means of the boom 8 the supply head 10 to which the supply lines 5
extend can be pivotally moved to a position in which the supply head 10 is
close to a desired operational location so that the supply lines can be
pulled over a short distance to such operational location. For that
purpose it will be sufficient to take the desired fitting 13 or tool 14
from the associated holder 11 of the supply head 10 and to move such
fitting or tool to the operational location, whereby the associated supply
line 5 will be unwound from the associated reel 4 and pulled along the
pole 7, boom 8, and arm 9. The supply lines 5 can conveniently be extended
to form an orderly arrangement and the tools 14 will be ready for use
without a delay.
In the illustrated embodiment the boom 8 can be telescopically extended and
retracted so that the range 6 through which the boom 8 can be pivotally
moved can be adapted to the contour of the truck. In practice it will
usually be sufficient to provide for a pivotal movement of the boom 8 to
positions at the front end and sides of the truck. The boom 8 can be
retracted to protrude only slightly in an inoperative position A, in which
the boom structure 6 can conveniently be arranged and will not interfere
with other operations of the truck, as is indicated in phantom in FIG. 2.
If the rotatable pole 7 can be telescopically raised, it will be possible
to raise the boom 8 above certain structures on the roof of the fire
brigade truck 1 and to increase the number of operations which can be
performed by the boom structure 6.
The supply head 10 is suitably provided with switches 15 for initiating the
operation of winding drives 16 associated with the reels 4. In that case
the winding of the extended supply lines after their use can be initiated
from the supply head. Lighting means 17 may be provided on the boom
structure 6 so that in addition to the central energy supply source such
lighting means can be directed to the operational location.
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